


Shopping Day, Part II

by alleyoops, jennandanica



Series: What Remains [5]
Category: Actor RPF, Australian Actor RPF, Banshee (TV) RPF, British Actor RPF, The Walking Dead (TV), True Blood RPF
Genre: M/M, Walking Dead AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 05:03:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10937562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alleyoops/pseuds/alleyoops, https://archiveofourown.org/users/jennandanica/pseuds/jennandanica
Summary: After the zombie apocalypse, survivors roam the UK, trying to find their families, other survivors they can trust and somewhere safe where they can actually allow hope for a future to flourish.  In this chapter, while the two groups are holed up in a small town waiting for Alex's leg to heal, Sam and Antony go on a supply run.Jess steps back from the third-floor window, making sure her movements can't be seen from the street. "They're coming this way." As if the plague of dead weren't bad enough, now she has to deal with these two random assholes? At least she knows what to expect from the walkers, every time.





	Shopping Day, Part II

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone familiar with the [RPG Citadel](http://citadel.dreamwidth.org/read), this is NOT backstory for any of our pups in the game. Also, we apologize in advance for any discrepancies regarding weapons and UK geography and slang/terminology. We did our best but I'm sure we've mucked up something.

Antony eases the backyard gate open, making sure their path is clear before slipping out between the houses, Sam on his heels. He edges towards the front, street side, taking another quick look around the corner, then signals to Sam they're good. He can see the tunnel from here, the walkers a good six or seven deep again. Christ. But they're focused on the tunnel and he and Sam make it down the street and into the next block without being spotted.

The first pharmacy is close by, at the top of High Street. It doesn't look promising, its windows broken, shelves ransacked but they check anyway and Antony adds a couple leftover vials with the suffixes Ryan specified to his pack.

For his part, Sam fills his bag with dental floss, unwaxed, and bandages, some gauze pads and a couple bottles of surgical spirit. He stops in front of one shelf, glancing over at where Antony's still busy with medications and tosses a bottle of lube – hell, make that two – into his pack, burying them under everything else.

They repeat the process with the next pharmacy and the Poundland after that. But by the time they reach the middle of town, they're seeing more and more walkers and Antony is not a happy camper. 

"You want to lie low for a bit?" Sam asks.

Antony shakes his head. "I want to find another way back. I think we've got enough for now and I don't like the look of this," he says, gesturing towards the growing crowd. The growing crowd that's heading towards the way they came. Fuck.

"There's the town hall," Sam points out, crouching beside Antony. "Bet they have a nice detailed map of the place."

Jess steps back from the third-floor window, making sure her movements can't be seen from the street. "They're coming this way." As if the plague of dead weren't bad enough, now she has to deal with these two random assholes? At least she knows what to expect from the walkers, every time.

"Yeah, I see 'em. They can't get in," Clive assures her, watching from his own shadowed viewpoint. "And they're obviously working to stay off the walkers' radar." He glances over at her – all eight stone and two of damaged pixie – and adds, "Don't worry. We've got the doors barred, and they're solid."

The first break they get, Sam and Antony make a run for the town hall. Sam yanks on a door only to find it locked. "Fuck. Seriously?" he growls, pulling harder.

"It's barred," Antony points out, peering through the window. Which means there might be someone inside. But he'd rather take his chances with them than the walkers. He pulls a pry bar from his pack and slips it between the doors, trusting Sam to keep watch while he works the wood loose on the other side. "Jesus fucking..." He curses under his breath, sweat starting to drip down his back when the damn thing finally gives. "We're in."

The heavy oak doors slam open and the sound reverberates throughout the building. "Fucking _damn_ it," Clive hisses.

"You said they couldn't get in!" Jess snarls the words, hysteria flooding her in an instant.

"Keep your voice down! We'll be fine," he insists. But he can't help thinking that if they'd only had a little more time to reinforce the doors... "Come on, we can hide."

"Hide? I'm going to fucking kill them!" she snaps, but he ignores her. 

"This way, this way," he urges, shoving her down a hallway as best he can without actually touching her. "Keep moving, we'll get to the roof."

Antony puts the bar back in place and takes a quick look around. There's nothing but seating and a few shitty desks. "I don't see anything," he says, rifling through the drawers.

"Upstairs," Sam suggests, already taking the steps two at a time. "There's got to be something here."

"I hate you I hate you I hate you." Jess repeats the words like a frantic mantra.

"I know, I know," Clive murmurs, trying each of the doors along the hall. He and Jess checked these rooms when they first came upstairs, but none of them offer decent space to hide, and they chose the front hall because it had the best view of the street. A litany of curses spills through his brain on endless repeat and he presses his back to their last choice, both literally and figuratively. "Look, it doesn't sound like there are more than four or so biters in here," he tells her, laying his hand against the final door. "We can take them, easy. And then we can... get out the window, or something."

She turns incredulous blue eyes on him. "We're on the third floor! You suck at this!"

The accusation plus the desperation nearly breaks him. "I know! I'm not a strategist, now fucking do this with me!" He steps back, training his 9mm on the lock.

The doors to the offices on the second floor are locked and Sam heads up to the third. "What the fuck–?" he blurts out, reaching the top of the stairs as shots are fired, doors explode inward and those godawful moans intensify. "Walkers," he warns Antony, even though he knows it's not needed.

Antony simply nods, gun already raised, heading straight for the room.

Jess drops to the floor to avoid a gnarled grasp. Slashes at a walker's legs and drives her knife into its skull when it hits the floor next to her. She's peripherally aware of Clive taking out another, then beginning to grapple with a third. But then the two strangers burst into the room and she screams a warning, twisting to aim.

It happens so fast. Her scream yanks Clive's attention and he instinctively dives for her, knocking her gun out of her hand before she can fire at the men. "No, Jess! Don't!" he shouts, thinking only of disarming her before they decide that she's even more of a threat than the dead.

Antony fires off three rounds, taking out the walkers right behind the two people on the floor. It hasn't escaped his notice that the woman tried to shoot them though and the second the first threat's dealt with, he's got his weapon trained on them.

"What the fuck?" Sam growls, shoving his gun in his waistband. "Did you actually break in here on purpose?" Trusting Antony has his back.

Clive raises his empty hands. "We were trying to avoid you lot," he explains in an even tone, edging in front of Jess but keeping his movements slow and steady. She's ghost-pale with her knife clutched tightly in her hand, and clearly trying to cram herself into a corner until she shrinks out of sight altogether. "We don't want conflict. We'll just head the opposite direction of wherever you're going."

"You can stay here," Sam says, nodding at Antony to lower his weapon, the way the woman's shrinking behind the guy in front of them making his stomach churn, the edge on his anger quickly dulling. Fuck. "We were just looking for a map – a better way back to where our mates are holed up. As soon as we find one, we'll be on our way."

"We don't have one," Clive replies, every sense hyper-alert. He's all too aware that if these guys are a danger to Jess, then they'll first wipe _him_ out without a second's hesitation. Leaving her as good as dead. Somehow he has to get them both through this. "We won't follow you."

Sam stares at them for a moment. "I know you don't have any reason to trust us, but I promise you, we're not here to harm you, either of you. Not unless you try to hurt us first." He takes a step back. "I'm going to leave Antony here but the moment I find a map, I'll come back for him and we'll be gone. So just sit tight and don't do anything stupid."

Clive nods slowly. "Thank you," he murmurs, and moves to sit down next to Jess, although he still angles his body protectively in front of her. As they wait, he sizes up the second man. Clive knows himself for a big man with an unwitting tendency to loom, and he sees he's got the height advantage. But, shit – the bloke looks _concentrated_ , like he could stop a fucking runaway train.

"Don't." Antony shakes his head, reading exactly how the other man's looking at him. "I'm not someone you want to take on." He settles back against a desk, but keeps his gun at the ready. Waiting a moment before he adds, "I don't know how you are for supplies, but there's a small grocer's around the corner, two blocks over, back that way," he motions with his free hand. "The store's trashed but there's cases of stuff in the cellar. We closed it up but it's under the rug beside the desk in back." God knows the house has more food than they need and they'll be moving on anyway once Alex is ready.

Her first flush of sheer panic is receding, leaving in its wake fear and knife-sharp wariness. At least Jess can think better this way, outside of fight-or-flight instincts. She stays out of the conversation, but her eyes never leave Antony, and she commits the directions for the grocer's to determined memory.

"Thank you for that," Clive answers, although he has to wonder what they'd be walking into if they followed up on the invitation. "But no, we have no desire to tangle with you. Either of you."

"Good." Antony nods, sitting back and waiting for Sam.

Silence stretches, stiff and tense. The odor of decomposing flesh is nearly overwhelming, and Jess carefully doesn't look at the floor, doesn't let her gaze stray to the corpses crowded around them. 

Sam comes back in the room, waving a brochure. "Found it," he tells Antony. "We can take the back alleys. They actually link up and we won't have to take the main street." He glances at the two people on the floor. "Here." He digs in his pack and comes up with two bottles of juice and a couple protein bars. He puts them down in front of the man, careful not to get any closer to the woman than absolutely necessary. "There's a number of us. We're holed up in a place while one of our group recovers from an injury he got coming through the tunnel. We're headed north. There's not many of us but we have some pretty major weapons and we have an actual destination. Somewhere we think is safe and defensible. You might want to think about joining us."

Antony glares at Sam, but he doesn't say a word. He wouldn't dream of showing there's dissension in their ranks.

It's a hell of a surprise, such an offer. And oddly enough, Clive can't help but notice the distinct _lack_ of a threat in the man's tone. It's almost enough to make him believe that they're truly legit. But that shock is nothing to how stunned he is when Jess speaks up.

"You came through the tunnel?" she asks. "Why? Why would you do that?"

"Because we had to," Sam says simply. "There's a horde moving north so we needed to get across the Tyne. Our only other choice was the bridge by Newcastle and we didn't want to deal with a big city. The tunnel was the safer option."

"I think she's wondering why you would want to cross the river at all," Clive explains, and scrubs a hand over his face. _Shit_. There goes their current plan. He looks at Jess in question.

She stares back, apprehensive. Then she slowly studies each of the strangers in turn. "London is gone?"

Sam nods. "What hasn't been trashed by walkers has been taken over by gangs. It's not somewhere you want to be."

It's a brutal thing, the death of hope. Especially considering how little they had to start with. Jess feels tears well up and spill over her cheeks, desolate.

Clive's heart clutches painfully tight. He wishes, not for the first time, that he could hug her and provide some comfort, but he knows better. That will have to be someone else's job, someday. He nods at Sam. "We'll come with you. For a bit."

Sam smiles. "Okay. Good. Keira'll be happy to have another woman in the group." He shows Antony the map in the brochure he found. "I thought we'd head straight up here," pointing out the route. "We should be able to slip in back."

Antony takes a quick look, assessing all the other options in an instant, then nods. "Works for me." He looks to their two new members. "I'm Antony and this is Sam. You are?"

"I'm Clive. This is Jess." He gets to his feet slowly, no sudden movements, his hands again held palm-out. "What kind of fighting should we be prepared for?"

"On the way back?" Sam lets out a soft snort. "Hopefully none."

"Close contact," Antony says. "Knives. Anything sharp. Don't use your guns unless you absolutely have to. I'll lead and Sam'll bring up the rear."

Sam takes a few steps, closing the distance between himself and Clive. "This is where we're headed," he says, showing him on the map. Making sure to hold it so Jess can see too if she wants. "This is the town hall and our house is up here," deliberately touching the street one up. "High Street was getting packed when we came in, they're all headed towards the tunnel, so we're going to go straight for this alley and make our way up between the houses."

Her gaze fixed on Antony, Jess reaches out to grab the Glock that Clive knocked from her hands earlier. So what that she's only accurate when she's standing still? Regardless it feels better to have a gun and not use it than to not have one at all. Standing, she shrugs her backpack on, and takes her knife in hand.

"Ready?" Satisfied they are, Antony leads the way back downstairs. He peeks out into the street, cursing softly under his breath and unbars the door. "I'm going to head for that corner store," he tells Jess, pointing at the shop directly across from them. "Wait for my signal, then crouch down low and come join me. Don't stop for anything. I'll have you covered."

She nods. Checks in visually with Clive one last time before they put their lives in someone else's hands, again. She loathes that she can't survive this world on her own. She forces those fears aside while she waits, then bolts at Antony's signal.

Clive looks down at Sam, searching his face. But there's nothing for it – Jess is off, and it's his turn to catch up. He scuttles across the alley, waiting to hear the gruesome moans of the dead grow louder. Dropping to the pavement when he reaches the shop.

Sam waits until there's another break in the fairly steady stream of walkers before joining the group across the way, his heart pounding as he reaches them. The alley looks good from where they are and he nods at Antony who stays close to the backyard fences and garages as they slowly creep their way south.

At every corner, every shadowed alley between two houses, Jess braces for an attack. But even though she hears them, it seems Antony always hears them first; her blade stays limp and useless in her hand while he swiftly and quietly takes care of one after another, dropping them in the path and leading on.

At a true crossroads, Antony leans back against a corner shed and signals to Sam. There's a good fucking dozen milling in the joined laneways and they need to get rid of them without attracting more. He checks his clip. Three bullets. He looks to Sam who holds up four fingers. "We're going to use our silencers. Get rid of the ones we can and then we go to blades. Don't use your guns unless you absolutely have to. There's a whole fucking swarm out on the main street."

They work fast, Antony and Sam felling one walker after another like they've been partners for years. Clive hesitates to mix in for fear they'll shoot him accidentally, but he spins at a raspy groan and stabs one through its skull. A wet thunk just behind his shoulder is barely enough warning; he turns to slash out with his blade but finds that Jess has already dropped the thing. No more left standing – lurching – and they follow Antony's lead, pelting down a back street.

Antony dips in behind a shed as another two walkers come ambling out from an alleyway. He takes a minute to make sure they're on their own and watches them continue on before signalling for everyone to follow him, stopping dead in his tracks only a moment later. "Hold on," he whispers, heading for a garage backing onto the street. It's open and there's a minivan sitting in it and although the chances are next to nothing that it still runs, he can't help but check. And sure enough, the keys are under the visor. "Keep a look out," he tells Sam, getting in and turning the key in the ignition. He doesn't turn the motor on. Just wants to check the battery and the tank level. Fuck. He could almost cry. There's close to a full tank of gas. He gets out and nods to Jess. "Put it in neutral and steer to the right. We'll push it out of the garage and then I want you to straighten the wheel and we'll push it closer to the house. This baby's going to at least get us the fuck out of town."

Circling around the other side, Jess peeks in the dirty windows. She climbs in, but takes the few seconds necessary to check that there are absolutely zero surprises waiting in the backseat. Satisfied, she takes the driver's seat and pulls the door just to so that it doesn't slam. An automatic transmission is still a beautiful thing, even during the apocalypse. She slides into neutral, and gives a wave out the window to show that she's ready.

The three men push the car out from the garage and then switch to the back, pushing it slowly up the alley once Jess straightens the wheels. Luck's on their side and they don't encounter any more walkers, Antony nodding to Sam and Clive to let the car coast to a stop a few doors down from the house. "Great job," he tells Jess. "Lock up and bring the keys."

Ryan's in the house building furniture blockades when he hears a soft scratching noise from the side yard. "Keira," he whispers urgently, signaling. He slips the safety off his gun and tiptoes to the back wall, peeking out through the tiny concealed peephole he fashioned. "It's them," he says, his anxiety deflating in relief. "They've got extras." He steps back.

It makes Clive's skin crawl to have had Sam behind him all this time, but he finds it interesting that the two men never demanded that they give up their guns. Also, that Antony is letting Jess hang onto the keys, for now anyway. He catches her eye as they move silently between houses, reassured when she tentatively nods back.

Antony makes sure the street in front of side yard is clear before waving Sam and the others forward. He's the last one through the gate in the fence and he latches it securely before finally breathing a sigh of relief. They're back. Safe and sound.

Sam knocks softly at the back door, stepping through a moment later. "We're back," he says, smiling at Ryan and Keira. "This is Clive and Jess. We ran into them at the town hall."

That smile... Just like that, all Ryan's thoughts get completely derailed. He smiles back at Sam, and so it's another moment before he switches his gaze to the newcomers. "Hi. I'm Ryan," he says, glancing at Sam and Antony again before he asks them, "How are you two doing?" It sounds like an inane question, but it's a genuine one.

"We..." Clive stares at the bloke, perplexed. "We made it here." He looks to Jess to see how she's handling everything, but he's not sure she even hears them talking: she's busy gaping at the woman who appears in the doorway.

"Hi. I'm Keira," she says, stepping forward and holding out her hand. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see another woman." She grins at Clive. "Not that you're not welcome too."

"Hi." Belatedly, Jess reaches out to touch Keira's hand. "You too. I mean, thanks. Yeah." God, she feels dizzy. Feels like the whole world is abruptly fuzzy around the edges.

"Alex and Luke are set up in the living room," Ryan says, grabbing each of their guests a bottle of water. "Alex stopped speaking in tongues about an hour ago. I think poor Luke deserves a medal."

Keira laughs. "Did you get the meds?" she asks Sam.

"Yeah. I think so. We got lots of stuff," he says with a nod. "Kitchen or living room?" he asks Ryan, opening up his bag.

"Here's good, thanks," Ryan says, holding out his hand. His fingers seem to tingle when he touches Sam.

Sam starts handing Ryan pills, bandages, floss, careful to keep the lube hidden at the bottom of his pack. "Antony's got the rest of the stuff," he says, hiding his pack beside the counter, out of the way and reaching for Antony's.

Keira grins at Jess and Clive. "Come meet the rest of our group," she says, gesturing for them to follow her. "This is Alex and Luke. Guys, this is Clive and Jess. Sam and Antony ran into them at the town hall."

"Hi," Luke waves from where he's sitting beside Alex on the couch. "Did you guys come through the tunnel too or are you from around here?"

"No. We were headed for the tunnel, actually." Clive glances back at Keira, then asks Alex, "You got hurt on the trip?"

"Yeah. No big deal. We'll leave soon." Alex is going to insist on it.

"Sam mentioned that. But you look..." Clive's gaze travels around the room, absorbing details. "You look like you're pretty well set up here. Did, uh. Did the residents give you a hard time?"

Alex shrugs, watching the redheaded woman take a slow circuit while always managing to keep her back to the wall. "They weren't here when we arrived."

"It seems like most of the town already went south or north," Luke says, "but there's a huge horde coming up from London and we wanted to avoid any of the bigger cities." He looks to Alex then at Clive. "You aren't still trying to go south, are you?"

Clive shakes his head in denial. "Not anymore." He sets his loaded pack down by the front door, then leans in close to Jess to murmur, "You okay?"

The expression on her face suggests that he's an absolute lunatic. But after a moment she shrugs, and answers, "Sure."

He watches her a bit longer, then figures that'll have to do for now. Crossing the room, he fetches up next to Keira. "How can we help? What do you need?"

"I'm not sure," Keira answers honestly. He's a good-looking guy but he seems to be with Jess and the last thing she wants to do is overstep her bounds so she's careful to keep her comments and attitude as casual and inclusive as possible. "We spent the day proofing the house since we'll be here for at least another day or two. We have lots of food, water, meds now. The bathroom upstairs doesn't work, the one down here does but you only flush it for um, number two. The water's okay for washing up and cooking if you boil it but not for drinking." She pauses then offers, "I can move in with Antony and you and Jess can have my room if you want?"

"Ah, no. I mean if you'd rather, of course." Wait, if she's offering to move in with Antony, then that says she's not there already. That she's been sleeping alone. Clive drags his fingers through his hair and reminds himself to fucking focus, no matter how enticing her smile of welcome was. "Actually, I suspect Jess might find it comforting to room with another woman."

Keira smiles at Jess. "I'm good with that, and Antony won't care if he shares. It's twins in his room anyways." She glances at Alex and Luke, wonders what's keeping Sam and Ryan and where the hell Antony disappeared to. "Have you guys been on your own the whole time?"

His lips tighten, and Clive shakes his head shortly. "What about you? Do you know these blokes well?"

"I've known Sam for a few years," Keira says, "and we met up with Antony early on. I don't think either of us would have got very far without him. And then we hooked up with Alex, Luke and Ryan the day before we came through the tunnel. We knew we needed more than three people to make it through but we kept seeing the most useless or creepiest groups come along and," she shudders dramatically. "No thank you. Antony thought these guys looked good and he was right," she adds, flashing a smile at Alex and Luke. "And now we're all headed north together." 

"You're building a solid team. Brilliant." It's getting easier to trust these people with each passing minute; either that, or Clive is just too damn tired to keep his defenses up. "Jess doesn't say a whole lot," he confides quietly, glancing back at her over his shoulder. "But we're grateful for your kindness. And the shelter."

"It's hard to find people we can trust," Keira says. "We have to grab them when we can. And that's fine. I get it. I – my fiancé was Sam's brother. Sam was visiting us when this all happened. I don't know what happened to Cal but he didn't come home and we spent a few days looking for him, left messages about where we were going... We met up with Antony almost right away. If it weren't for the two of them... let's just say I don't like my chances. But Antony's trained me to protect myself and Sam's been there to see me through." And okay, fuck, she needs to stop confessing shit but there's something about Clive.

It seems that Keira has an idea of just how fortunate she's been. All three of them actually. "I'm sorry," he murmurs, "about your fiancé."

"Thanks." Keira gives him a small smile. "What about you? Did you know Jess from before?"

"No." Clive glances back again to check that Jess is out of hearing distance. "She was part of a group I joined up with south of Glasgow. She had managed to get there from Belfast. We were attacked, the women were abducted..." His lips tighten as he recalls the gritty details of that night, and his narrow escape. "We ran into each other again just a couple weeks ago. The girl's a fierce survivor, but..." He thinks better of the words he's about to let slip, and concludes instead, "It was good of Antony to let her keep her gun."

"He wouldn't want her unarmed unless she was an actual threat to us," Keira says. "He's a good guy. He doesn't say much either and he can be scary as hell but he's got a really strict moral compass too. Lucky for me." And speak of the devil... "Where did you disappear to?" she asks Antony as he joins them in the living room.

"I put a huge pot of stew on and there was biscuit mix in the pantry so I just put those in," Antony says with a shrug. "I'm trusting everyone's hungry?"

"Starving," Clive answers. The juice and granola bars Sam gave them back at the Town Hall disappeared fast, even as fast as they were moving. He figures everyone in this world has learned the hard way that it's best to eat when they can, rather than waiting for a more opportune time which may never come. 

"Did he say stew?" Alex asks Luke, then looks back over his shoulder at Antony. "Did you say stew?"

Antony chuckles. "Don't get too excited. It's canned, like everything else, but there's meat and veg in it and I threw in three of those huge cans."

* * *

"Penicillin, azithromycin, Flagyl... Cipro, beautiful!" Ryan lines up the new stash of medicine bottles like soldiers in one of the kitchen cabinets, and shoots Sam a grin over his shoulder. "I can't believe you found so much!"

"We got lucky," Sam says, grinning back, thrilled to be the cause of Ryan's happiness. "People took the stuff they could get high on, left bottles behind, missed cupboards. Plus it's a small town with people who got the hell out as soon as everything started going south. Bigger city and we would have been shit out of luck."

"This is amazing." Ryan takes a quick inventory of the non-pharmaceutical prizes, and sets up his supply cabinet. "All this, plus two more strangers?" He shuts the door and turns to Sam with a snicker. "How many stray dogs did you take in, before? It must've been a howling menagerie at your place."

"I only had one dog," Sam protests, taking a quick into the living room before moving behind Ryan. "And we need more people," he says, wrapping his arms around Ryan's waist from behind and kissing the back of his neck.

The kiss comes as a surprise, but it sends delicious shivers through Ryan's body. "Yeah. Okay," he says, tilting his head to the side to bare his throat, "I'll probably agree with whatever you say if you do more of that."

"I'd better think quick and take advantage then," Sam kids, kissing Ryan's throat. He makes a soft sound of pleasure. "You feel so good."

Ryan huffs a soft laugh. "Yeah." This is a new one on him, the casual affection with a man, being wrapped in an embrace as powerful as his own. "I feel like we should go looking for a backseat."

"I'm sure we could sneak upstairs for a few minutes," Sam suggests, flicking his tongue over Ryan's skin, his jeans tightening with the way he's pressed up against his lover.

"You could but anyone asks and I'm telling them exactly where you are and what you're doing," Antony says with a small smile, stepping into the kitchen.

Never mind arousal, Ryan's entire body stiffens in an instant. But, hell – he's not going to skulk around or feel embarrassed about this. So he decides to respond to the teasing in kind. "Aw c'mon, man," he retorts, dropping his head back to rest against Sam's shoulder, "even I didn't know exactly what we were about to do."

Antony sighs and shakes his head. "Go on, get out," he orders, pretending to shoo them. "I'm making dinner. You've got twenty if you're lucky."

"Oh." Now Ryan _definitely_ feels like a teenager. He grins at Sam, unsure whether he's interested, and adds, "I... I'll just be upstairs."

"I'll be right there," Sam says, taking a moment to grab his bag and punch Antony on the shoulder. "You're such an asshole," he tells him, but his eyes are sparkling and he can't keep the grin off his face.

Sam's one of the only people who would ever get away with that and Antony makes a face at him. "Get going. You're already down a minute."

Ryan tries to be as unobtrusive as possible when he crosses through the living room, but he does look around to make sure everything's okay with his people. Sure enough, Luke is taking care of Alex, Keira seems to be taking care of the newcomers, and given that Antony just put himself on watch... He grins to himself and pounds up the stairs to the bedroom he and Sam shared last night.

Sam follows, sneaking by the crowd gathered in the living room. He doesn't know if anyone will put two and two together but really he couldn't care less. He just doesn't want to risk losing another precious minute.

By the time Sam closes the bedroom door behind him, Ryan is already naked to the waist. "You've had an intense day," he says, slowly unbuckling his belt. "You must be tired out."

"Exhausted," Sam agrees, dropping his bag inside the door. "Wasn't sure if I should be more worried about the walkers or the two downstairs," he says, pulling his shirt and jumper over his head.

Damn, Sam is built, and Ryan slowly looks him over, admiring the breadth of his shoulders, the leashed power evident in every line of muscle. "But now?" he asks, pushing his jeans to the floor and standing nude before his new lover.

"They're good. I trust them," Sam says, his jeans following Ryan's. "Fuck, you're gorgeous," he breathes, his body's response to Ryan giving lie to his exhaustion.

Ryan's mouth hitches in a crooked grin, and he murmurs, "It's been a while since anyone told me that." He closes the distance between them and trails his fingertips down Sam's chest.

"You owe me," Sam grins, his cock jerking sharply at the touch, as simple as it is.

"Do I? I'm not sure I remember that," Ryan teases. His caress continues downward until his hand closes lightly around Sam's cock. He maps the shape of him, length and girth and textures, shutting his eyes and locking the sensations into memory.

"Mm. Fuck," Sam breathes, swaying slightly. "Yeah. You do." Biting at his lip before he adds, "I found some lube. Not to use now but sometime, maybe."

The meaning – all the meanings – of those words filters through Ryan's brain a second late. He looks at Sam in dismay and lets him go. "Let's talk about that some other time," he suggests quietly, and waves towards the bed. "Lie back."

Sam can't ignore that look but he gets on the bed. "I didn't mean– you know... it's good for jerking each other off too," he says softly. "I'm not going to push you for anything you don't want."

With a sigh, Ryan lies down, chin propped in his hand. "You're kind of killing the mood here, man."

Sam holds his hands up. "I won't say another word," he promises. He's smarter than that and the clock is ticking down.

Raising an eyebrow, Ryan gives him a skeptical look. But it rapidly melts into a mischievous grin and he gets back off the bed, sliding to his knees on the floor and leaning in to lick along the inside of Sam's knee.

"Fuck." Sam groans, hands falling to the bed, his cock thumping against his thigh.

It's certainly an encouraging response to start. Ryan's lips curve and he licks again, then does the same to Sam's other thigh. He mouths along the tender flesh, beginning to nibble, sliding his hands up to hold Sam's hips. Gradually working his way in closer and closer until he licks at the heavy sac.

Sam curses again, his cock rock hard now, smearing precome across his belly. His hands curl into the bedsheets, resisting the urge to find their way into Ryan's hair. "So good," he whispers, not wanting for one moment to derail Ryan.

With a soft moan, Ryan echoes that approval. He sucks lightly on Sam's balls, tasting and teasing and losing himself in sensation. Starting to stroke the shaft in a loose fist. When he finally closes his lips around the crown he can taste Sam's excitement. He growls with hunger and takes Sam's cock into his mouth.

"Oh god," Sam chokes out, giving in to the desire to bury his hands in Ryan's hair. He doesn't pull or tug though, just lets his nails scrape lightly against his lover's skull, urging him on with soft noises that he doesn't even try to muffle.

Now that feels really damn good. Ryan has always loved the feeling of his partner's fingers in his hair, urging him on to take more of them, to take them over. Finally he gives into his own need and lets go of the agonizingly slow pace he built. Sucks and licks and bobs his head, his lips sliding along Sam's length again and again.

It's been so fucking long. Sam tries to hold out, tries to savour how this feels, how good, how all-consuming... but he doesn't have a hope in hell of holding out against that onslaught and only a few minutes pass before he's coming, hard and heavy, pouring himself down Ryan's throat with a rough gritted groan.

Ryan chokes and swallows, doubling back to take in every precious drop. After his own recent hair-trigger performances, he's gratified as all hell that he can get Sam off like this. Easing back, he simply watches Sam's face for a moment, soaking up his blissed expression. Then he lies down next to his lover, draping his arm across him with a whisper. "You are so fucking hot."

"You just think that 'cause I'm one of the last men on earth and Alex is already taken," Sam teases, turning his head to smile at Ryan.

Even though it's probably just a joke, Ryan considers for a moment. "...Nah," he decides, his eyes dancing. "It's because you're hot. And plus, Alex makes this weird horsey snorting noise when he's about to come. It's a real fucking turn-off."

Sam laughs. But then he can't help it. "Seriously? Have you guys...?"

"Fuck, no. I was just joking." Ryan grins, idly trailing his fingers over Sam's shoulder. "No. You are the first man who has really turned my head in... quite a few years."

"Lucky me," Sam says, grinning back, but it's clear he means it. "How long do you think we still have?"

"You mean, until Antony comes and physically breaks the door down?" Ryan laughs softly. "You'd know about that more than I would. But if you're talking about us not missing out on dinner, well... Yeah, it's probably better we go down sooner rather than later."

"Damn," Sam rolls onto his side and pulls Ryan in close, kissing him softly. "If we weren't in the middle of the apocalypse, I'd be tempted."

That kiss, fleeting and seductive – Ryan realizes he's rapidly falling under Sam's spell, all but swooning. "If that were the case, I'd be tempted to just bring dinner up here and feed you myself."

Sam exhales softly. Christ. "That sounds so good, but we should probably be civil and make sure everything's alright with our new members." A quick pause before he adds, "I think Jess has had some bad experiences. She reacted _really_ badly to Antony and myself. She was more scared of us than the walkers."

"...Oh." Ryan sighs, then nods, his mouth setting in a grim line. "I see." And he does. "You know, Keira is probably your best PR, just by existing without cowering in a corner. I mean obviously just a sign that you don't brutalize women doesn't mean you're not dangerous, or that _she's_ not... But it says a lot." He kisses Sam's lips, softly, lingering to feel the heat between them, then gets to his feet to pull his clothes back on. Then he glances back in alarm. "You don't think that Clive...?"

"God no," Sam says, making a face as he dresses. "He's definitely her protector. He mentioned them getting parted and whatever happened must have happened then."

"Oh." It's not a particularly clever response, but Ryan's mind riots with colorful horrific images, drawn into being by the spaces between Sam's words. He tries to shake them off, then gives Sam a little smile before he steps out into the hallway. Quietly shutting the door behind him, in a vague attempt at discretion.

Downstairs, Jess shakes her head and refuses the offer of a chair. "No. I don't need to sit. I'm fine," she insists, backing up against the kitchen counter and the slight shelter it provides. Antony, a guy who somehow seems to fill up a space much larger than himself, hands her a bowl of stew and she gulps it down, watching how the others interact with each other. 

"I'm really not much of a shot," Clive says, answering Alex's question the same way he's been trying to answer all of the questions during this interrogation: calmly, openly, and sticking to the truth whenever possible. "Particularly not at a distance. But I'm very good in close quarters. Martial arts background." A muay thai champion, actually, but he doesn't care to advertise that fact.

Alex frowns a little. "How does martial arts help when you're fighting a zombie?" he asks, trying to think how they can put Clive to best use, the next time they have to go out as a group. "I mean, usually you didn't have to worry about your opponents trying to bite your arm off."

"True," Clive allows, scraping the bottom of his bowl with his spoon to get every last calorie. "But generally the physical principles work the same way: momentum, alignment, force. It all goes around."

Antony nods his agreement, making quick work of his stew and handing Ryan a bowl as he joins them. "Sam coming?" he asks, not intending but amused at the double entendre.

"Yeah," Ryan replies. "Thank you for making dinner." Fuck yes, he's so hungry it almost feels like his stomach is eating itself. "Alex, how's your leg?"

Alex scowls down at his thigh. "It's throbbing like a motherfucker," he says, and his mind returns to his wonderings of the morning. "Who died and made you Dr. Sexy, MD?"

"Reason." Ryan shrugs lightly and snags a bottle of water. "The death of reason made me Dr. Sexy. After we eat, I need to check your bandages."

"You're a doctor?" Jess asks abruptly. She ignores how that fetches her a sudden frown from Clive.

Ryan raises an eyebrow. "What do you need?"

Jess flushes hot, feeling the sudden weight of their eyes on her. "Nothing." Flustered, she turns to the sink and starts scrubbing grime off the dishes as best she can.

"I'll dry," Luke volunteers, having finished his bowl of stew and making room for Sam as he finally joins them. He gives Jess a smile and picks up a tea towel. "I'd been on my own for a while before I met Alex and Ryan and we hooked up with the rest of these guys. It's nice having a group of people I can trust again."

Sam gratefully takes the last bowl of stew and two biscuits. He groans with pleasure at the first bite and shakes his head. "God, that hits the spot."

Jess eyes Luke in speculation, but nods after a moment's consideration. "Trust is... Yeah, trust is not easy to come by these days," she says quietly. As much as it terrifies her to be in this position, in this house, she couldn't say that she feels any threatening vibes coming off Luke. But who is genuinely who they pretend to be? "Clive is solid," she offers, feeling like she has to say something.

"He seems like it," Luke says, taking a risk when he confesses, "You probably already figured it out, but Alex and I are together. When I met him and Ryan I was really scared they were going to be these homophobic assholes because I've run into some real charmers but instead I ended up with a boyfriend." He smiles. "You guys aren't together?"

She blinks. "...What?" Figured it out? "I didn't have a clue about you two," she tells him with a shake of her head. Of course, it makes sense in retrospect. "But Clive and me, no." A hint of a smile twitches her lips. "He makes a really good big brother. Of course, he's younger than I am, but still." She glances back over her shoulder, checking out the assembled group. "This is everybody?"

Luke nods. "Keira was engaged to Sam's brother and when everything happened and he disappeared, they hooked up with Antony who was special forces at one point. Alex and Ryan were with another group but they ran into trouble and ended up on their own, and the town I was in – I don't know what happened. I was out on a supply run, came back and it was overrun. I met up with Alex and Ryan a few days ago and then we met up with Keira and the guys just before the tunnel. None of us wanted to take our chances on our own. And then when Alex got hurt, I thought they might just leave us behind, but they didn't. We found this house and Antony volunteered to find more meds, and they said they're not going anywhere until we're ready."

"Wow," she agrees, privately marveling at how forthcoming Luke seems to be. How he seems to be, period, just in general. God, she hopes he's real. "So then, you and Alex," she murmurs, tilting a genuine smile up at him while she does the math. "You must work fast."

Luke laughs. "Very," he agrees. "But it feels right," he says, casting a glance over his shoulder at his lover. "And everything seems to move faster these days." He leans in and whispers. "Sam and Ryan are hooking up too, but Antony and Keira are on their own. I think she's still mourning Cal and he's just... asexual maybe? I can't get a clear read on him but he's a good guy." He knows he's coming across like a blabber-mouth but he doesn't care. It's important that they all trust each other and he can tell Clive's sold, or at least mostly, but Jess. Jess has _huge_ trust issues written all over her, and while he's sure she more than has her reasons, not having them be one tight unit could get them killed.

Jess rinses the last dish and hands it to Luke, watching him while he works. "What's pushing you forward?"

"Now?" Luke smiles. "Definitely Alex, but there's got to be somewhere that's safe and Antony knows of an island off the coast that's totally off the grid. Livestock, gardens, solar power, water. I don't need much. I just want to be able to... live, without constantly looking over my shoulder."

To be able to just _live_... It sounds almost simplistic, but the idea resonates deeply within Jess. "Sam mentioned something about that," she murmurs. "That would be... Yeah." 

"Alex, you ready?" Ryan asks, with a nod towards his bad leg. "Let's get you over to the couch. Does anyone have a plan for tomorrow?"

"Depends on how Alex is doing," Antony says, following them. "We found a car. Minivan actually. Rolled it a few houses down. We can seat everyone, there's a full tank of gas. It should get us a fair distance, but I'd still want Alex able to move if needed."

"I'm fine," Alex insists, the words dropping so swiftly from his lips that it's like a spinal reflex. "I'm not going to hold anyone back. You got a car?" He props his foot up on a pillow and submits to Ryan's poking and prodding with only a slight whitening around his mouth.

Antony nods. "Someone must like us," he says. "I suspect the gas is a bit on the old side but it should be okay. And we might get lucky as we move further north."

"A lot of the roads are blocked," Clive points out, then says, "Hang on." His pack is sitting by the front wall where he left it, and he returns to the group with a glossy folded road map, plus a stub of a pencil. "I've been trying to..." He spreads the map out on the coffee table, and points to various scribbles as he talks. "Jess and I came down from this direction, by this route. We followed the road for a bit, but mostly kept to the woods. This road here, and this one," he trails his pencil lightly along the marked routes, "are both blocked. Some police blocks, some crashes, some are just bottlenecks. But what we saw is that side streets, like this one here, tended to have fewer cars just sitting in the way."

"And less fucking crazies on them too," Antony nods. "So we take the side streets out. It'll take longer and the gas won't go as far but it'll be better than walking." He glances at Ryan and Alex. "Do you want one more day for him here?"

"He won't be ready even then," Luke points out, a little frustrated. They've got a safe place here, for now, with food and water. What's the rush?

Noting the banked apprehension in Luke's tone, Ryan chooses his words carefully. Bandage off, and he gently cleans Alex's wound, inspecting it for signs of healing. "Is there anything we can do to shield the van? Not as much from the biters, but from the living? We'll attract attention no matter what. We should prepare for how to defend ourselves on the road."

"The windows are tinted," Sam offers. "And we still have lots of ammo, grenades..."

Alex winces as Ryan scrubs at the dried blood on his skin. "It's fine, right?" he asks, trying to urge Ryan into the direction he wants him to go. "We can leave."

Looking up from his crouch, Ryan meets his mate's eyes. And he quietly asks, "What if you need to run?"

 _Fuck_. Alex frowns, then shakes his head. "I'll cope. I refuse to slow anyone down."

"I don't understand why we're in such a fucking hurry," Luke says. "This place is safe. We're holed up, we have food, meds... The island's not going anywhere."

"No, but more and more walkers are piling up this side of the tunnel and there's the horde moving north from the other side," Antony points out.

"But one day isn't going to make a difference," Luke argues. "Except that Alex will have healed more."

Antony holds his hands up. "I'm good with another day," he says. "But we all have to agree on it."

Clive glances aside at Jess, then nods. "We're fine, either way." 

Ryan keeps working, putting ointment and clean bandages into place. "I vote we stay here a little longer," he says, checking to see what Sam's response will be.

Alex opens his mouth to say something but Luke shakes his head. "You don't get a vote." Because he knows damn well Alex will only insist once again that he's fine. He looks to Sam.

"I don't have a problem with staying here," Sam says. Not when it means another night in the same bed with Ryan.

"Me neither," Keira chimes in.

With that issue settled – for tonight, anyway – they begin to disperse throughout the house. Flickers of candlelight brighten the gloom here and there, all doors and windows tightly battened down to shelter them as they rest. Jess knocks on the doorframe of one of the upstairs bedrooms, peeking in to find Keira, just as Antony said she should. "Is it all right if I come in?"

"Of course," Keira says, waving Jess in. "I put an extra blanket on the bed for you," she points out, pulling the covers back on her own bed – the one closest to the door. "And I have to warn you, I sometimes snore but feel free to throw something at me." She grins, tugging her jumper over her head to reveal a gray-white t-shirt underneath.

"Right." Jess edges into the room, looking around for clues as to the identity of its former occupant. "Luke said you only just got here," she murmurs, bending down in the flickering candlelight to check out the titles of a stack of dusty paperback novels. "Yesterday?"

Keira nods. "We planned to move a little further north before stopping but then Alex got injured and we needed a place to hole up."

Straightening up, Jess looks back over her shoulder to meet the other woman's eyes. "How long have you been running?"

Keira sits on the edge of her bed and blows out a breath. "Pretty much since it all began. When my fiancé, Sam's brother, didn't come home, we spent a few days looking for him but things just got crazier and crazier and then we ran into Antony and he told us his plan. We didn't have a better one so we just tagged along but I don't want to think what would have happened if we hadn't."

"I'm so sorry about your fiancé," Jess says, sitting down on the opposite twin bed. "I can't even imagine what that must be like for you." She suspects her imagination comes pretty close, though; no one in this world has been spared brutal losses. 

"Thanks," Keira says. "I miss him a lot." Something she doesn't let herself think about very often. "What about you? Have you been on the run the whole time?"

"Yes. I was in County Louth, visiting my grandmother. We were hearing the strangest reports from Dublin... No one really believed it," Jess answers softly, staring at her chipped fingernails against the dark blue counterpane. "And then when it happened, it happened pretty much overnight. There was a flood of people trying to come west across the Irish Sea, and of course there were tons trying to get east, too. But I thought that if I could just get to London, they _had_ to have it under control."

"I don't think anywhere has it under control," Keira says, watching Jess. "The only hope is to get somewhere the walkers can't and that other humans won't think to try and come."

Jess nods, swallowing back a lump of bile in her throat. "Yeah. Good plan." She scans the room, tries to peek through a crack in the boards covering the window, but thankfully it's too solid for that. Draping her jacket over a bedpost, she lies down and wraps herself in the comforter. It's a struggle to not completely lose her composure, so she rolls over to face the wall.


End file.
